The Snowbird Foundation concentrates its giving on education, funding both an intermediary/fiscal sponsor and a direct-service international education NGO. Grants indicate a strategic interest in supporting education programs and initiatives—including global girls' education—rather than broad local philanthropy. The foundation appears willing to make large, single-purpose gifts to organizations that scale or enable education work.
Snowbird Foundation Inc C/o John Suby made a single $500,000 education grant in 2023 to New Venture Fund, signaling a preference for large, targeted support rather than many small awards. The foundation’s recent giving is built around education, with particular attention to international girls’ education and organizations that can operate at scale. A second major grant went to Camfed USA for $150,000, placing the foundation in direct support of an established nonprofit working on girls’ secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa. Other recent awards include Tostan, Girl Up Initiative Uganda, and Malala Fund, all within the education category. The pattern suggests a funder that uses sizable, purpose-specific grants to back intermediaries and education organizations with defined program roles. Because the recent grants are concentrated in education and tied to named organizations, the foundation reads as a strategic grantmaker rather than a broad generalist. Its giving profile points to selective commitments aimed at enabling education work through both direct nonprofits and fiscal-sponsor structures.
Education is the foundation’s clear organizing theme. In 2023, it gave $500,000 to New Venture Fund for education, a grant that shows interest in using an intermediary vehicle for program support. It also awarded $150,000 to Camfed USA for education, aligning with girls’ secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa. Additional education grants went to Tostan for $75,000 and Malala Fund for $40,000, indicating support for international organizations working in related education fields. Girl Up Initiative Uganda received $50,000 for education, adding another girls’ education example to the mix. Across these grants, the foundation backs organizations that are already structured to deliver or scale education programs, rather than one-off local projects.
The typical grant size sits at $50,000 at the 25th percentile, $75,000 at the median, and $150,000 at the 75th percentile, with one outlier grant at $500,000. That spread points to a mix of mid-sized awards and a small number of much larger commitments. The 2023 grant list is entirely in the education category and includes both a fiscal sponsor and direct-service nonprofits, which suggests programmatic giving through single-purpose grants. The recipient list on file is all from one year, so recurring multi-year relationships are not shown in the provided data.
$815K
$0
$3.2M
$840K
Most grants fall between $50K and $150K, with a median of $75K.
25th Percentile
$50K
Median
$75K
75th Percentile
$150K
About 0% of grants go to recipients in CA.
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Concentrated, high-dollar grants to a very small number of recipients—one large grant to a fiscal sponsor and a substantial grant to an international education NGO—suggesting strategic, targeted support rather than many small awards.
Notable grantees: New Venture Fund, CAMFED USA
Grant recipients are all in the United States in the data provided, with five grants landing there and none in Wisconsin. California appears twice through San Francisco and Goleta, while Washington, DC appears twice and Alexandria, Virginia appears once. The top state by grant count is California. The recipient-country distribution is therefore fully U.S.-based, even though the foundation’s headquarters are in Madison, Wisconsin.
The recent grants go to an intermediary/fiscal sponsor and to education nonprofits: New Venture Fund, Camfed USA, Tostan, Girl Up Initiative Uganda, and Malala Fund. Every recent award is labeled for education, showing a focused pattern rather than broad general philanthropy.
The grant-size distribution is $50,000 at the 25th percentile, $75,000 at the median, and $150,000 at the 75th percentile. One grant is much larger, at $500,000, which lifts the upper end of the distribution.
All five recent grants in the data are to U.S.-based recipients, so the listed grant locations are entirely domestic. The grants themselves support international education work, but the recipient organizations shown on file are all in the United States.
Yes. One of the largest recent grants, $500,000, went to New Venture Fund for education. That indicates the foundation is willing to fund through an intermediary structure as well as directly to operating nonprofits.
The grants center on education, with a strong thread of girls’ secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa. Camfed USA, Girl Up Initiative Uganda, and Malala Fund all fit that pattern, while Tostan and New Venture Fund show support for broader education programming and incubation.
2023
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2023.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEW VENTURE FUND | WASHINGTON, DC | $500,000 | 2023 | EDUCATION |
| CAMFED USA | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $150,000 | 2023 | EDUCATION |
| TOSTAN | ALEXANDRIA, VA | $75,000 | 2023 | EDUCATION |
| GIRL UP INITIATIVE UGANDA | GOLETA, CA | $50,000 | 2023 | EDUCATION |
| MALALA FUND | WASHINGTON, DC | $40,000 | 2023 | EDUCATION |